Gehlot questions 'delay' in Pachpadra refinery project despite 'double-engine' Rajasthan govt

Jaipur, Aug 25 (PTI) Senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot on Monday slammed the BJP dispensation in Rajasthan over the "slow" pace of the Pachpadra refinery project in Barmer district and asked why the work was lagging despite a "double-engine" government being in place.

The former chief minister pointed out that in the 2025-26 state budget, the government had announced the refinery at Pachpadra-Balotra would begin production by August 2025.

"Yesterday, Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma and Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri visited the refinery, but neither of them, nor the official press note, mentioned any date for starting production. This surprising silence is creating doubts among the people," Gehlot said in a post on X.

He said that during the previous Congress government, work had progressed rapidly on the Rs 37,000-crore project despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, and more than 80 per cent of the refinery was completed.

Gehlot alleged that delays under the BJP governments, first between 2013 and 2018, and now since 2023, had pushed the cost of the project to over Rs 1 lakh crore.

"The foundation stone was laid in 2013. If the succeeding BJP government had not stalled work, the cost escalation would not have been so high. The people of Rajasthan are asking why the refinery project is progressing so slowly despite a double-engine government," he added.

On Sunday, Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri and Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma inspected the HPCL Rajasthan Refinery Ltd (HRRL) site in Pachpadra, inaugurated some facilities and held a review meeting. PTI AG NSD NSD